February 8, 2007

Brazilian Saves Grandson From Anaconda

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A 66-year-old Brazilian saved his grandson from the grip of a 16-foot-long anaconda by beating the snake with rocks and a knife for half an hour, police said Thursday.

"When I saw the snake wrapped around my grandson's neck I thought it was going to kill him," Joaquim Pereira told the Agencia Estado news service. "It was agonizing, I pulled it from one side, but it would come back on the other."

Pereira's 8-year-old grandson, Mateus, was attacked by the anaconda near a creek on his grandfather's ranch in the city of Cosmorama, about 250 miles northwest of Sao Paulo.

While the boy was playing with friends, the snake attacked and wrapped itself around him, police officer Hudson Augusto said. Anacondas are not poisonous, but kill their prey by coiling around them and squeezing until victims suffocate.

"It brought me to the ground and bit me," the boy told Globo TV, which showed footage of the dead snake. "Then it started crawling up my neck and began suffocating me."

Mateus' friends ran to get his grandfather, who reached the scene and battled with the snake until it released his grandson.

The boy was rushed to a hospital and needed 21 stitches on his chest where he was bitten.

Police said anacondas are not uncommon in the region, but attacks on people are rare.